Real Life: From Sugar to spice

But for 25-year-old Mexican food entrepreneur Tim Stillwell, it marked the start of a modest burrito empire.

Tim, owner of Burrito Kitchen at the Intu Merry Hill shopping centre, has come a long way in his short career. He was 'fired' by Sir Alan Sugar in the second week of last year's series after a disastrous beer-selling task.

But with his own small and growing business already in its fledgling stages, the young University of Birmingham graduate didn't lose heart.

"Featuring on The Apprentice was an eye-opening experience. You get to see how TV works and you see how much waiting around there is.

"At that point in my career I had nothing to lose. I'd finished my International Business degree so I just went for it. I'd loved the show since I was younger and so this was the first opportunity I'd had to apply. They get 30 or 40 thousand people apply so I never thought I'd get through, but the process went on and on and the auditions did too and I was chosen to appear.

"I already had Burrito Kitchen in the pipeline when I went on the show. There was some down-time whilst the legals were going through, so I thought, why not?"

Facing off against the infamous Lord Sugar was quite the experience for Tim, but not one he shied away from. We asked if Lord Sugar was as scary as he appears on screen.

"He actually is, it's terrifying. He's a really intimidating character. Once the cameras go off, he doesn't talk to you; that scary, strict image continues. Even the producers and the cameramen are intimidated.

"To start your own business you're naturally quite confident, so it wasn't too terrifying.

"I wouldn't go on the show now, but I don't regret it. They have about 80 hours of footage of you and from that they can make you out to be anything they want. I'm lucky that the storyline they chose for me wasn't that bad.

"It's surprising how many people go back on the show and don't go back to business afterwards. Sometimes they're not portrayed in their best light."

For Tim, going back to business was easy. At the age of 23, the roots of his Mexican food business were already in place and had been since his university days.

With a thriving burrito business based in a catering van on the University of Birmingham campus and his sights set on a more permanent premises at Merry Hill, Tim's appearance on The Apprentice only strengthened his position in the industry.

He explains: "I was lucky to have the opportunity to live in Mexico for a year during my degree. At that point I didn't know what to do with my life. It's an inspiring place to be because everyone in Mexico wants to start their own business; there are street vendors everywhere.

"Whilst there, I worked in three of the top restaurants in Mexico, getting authentic insights and healthy recipes to bring back."

On his return to the UK, and before his graduation, Tim decided that he didn't want to wait any longer to set up his own company. Like many start-ups, he approached his bank to get funding to start his Burrito Kitchen dream.

"When I returned home, I put together a huge business plan and went to the bank to ask for £100k to set up the business.

"They said 'no, absolutely not', and suggested I go and get a job. Because of the degree I was studying, people asked why I didn't just go and work for a big company, but I didn't want to.

"I hired a basic catering van for £250 and my friends got involved in making Mexican food on the campus. We got fresh supplies locally and I started to work hard to make it a success.

"When I made enough money, I got a better van. When I made enough money for that, I got an even bigger van. I started working my way up from there. If I wanted something better, I'd work hard enough to get the money to spend on it, that way I didn't owe money to the bank."

Despite only being in his mid-20s, Tim's wanted his own business for as long as he can remember.

"I've always wanted this. When I was 12 I had a paper round and as part of it, I was distributing leaflets, and the businesses were paying the newsagents to include them in my drops.

"I quickly realised that there was more money to be made by approaching businesses directly and telling them I could distribute to 500 houses for 5p a leaflet rather than the 3p I was being paid in the first place, so I started making my own money that way. Then at school I began to sell things and it went from there."

Before his appearance on The Apprentice, Tim set the gears in motion to launch his first branch at Merry Hill. Like many start-ups, money was tight and he only had £500 to kick start his vision.

"Independents go bust all the time; you only have to look around to see that everyone is struggling. We're one of the only independents in the centre. Many businesses struggle with crippling bank debts, but I only ever spent money that I had."

One of the biggest challenges for Tim was convincing the people of Merry Hill to try his healthy fast food. One of his burritos has the entire guideline daily recommendation of fruit and veg – a far cry from the burger and fried chicken alternatives available.

"It can be difficult to get people to try something new and many people still go to the fast food restaurants that they're used to but we're bringing something completely new to Merry Hill and things are going well.

"We really offer something unique and as a result have received a gold award in healthy eating from the council. I believe we're the only fast food place in the shopping centre that has. Everything is made fresh, the meat is all British and nothing is frozen.

"Our aim is to change the face of fast food one burrito at a time and we're really on a mission to do so. We even have a five-a-day burrito that has all five portions of fruit and veg in one sitting.

"We go out to local schools to teach the importance of healthy eating and make people aware of what they're putting into their bodies."

At the moment, Tim works seven-days-a-week to make a success of Burrito Kitchen and hopes to expand. He hopes to launch a branch in Birmingham, his home for the last six years, as well as reaching further afield.

As well as this, Tim is working to extend his reach into the healthy food and drink market, and hopes to launch Mexican drink Refresca to a wider audience. At the moment he serves the low calorie drink at his restaurant.

"It's hard, but I love what I do and I want to expand.

"I plan to stay in the Midlands, it's my adopted home. My aspirations are to next move into central Birmingham and then out to Telford, Reading and then work up from there."

The hands-on businessman has created a small business success from the days of his tiny van on the university campus.

He may have been fired from The Apprentice, but when it comes to burritos, this entrepreneur has Mexican food all wrapped up.